The real history of Valentine's Day is not
comprised of roses, chocolates and pretty cards.
Instead, crime, imprisonment and execution are at
the genesis of our modern day love fest, dating
back to the man whose martyrdom may have
inspired the holiday. There were reportedly three
early Christian saints named Valentine, but the
one the holiday likely comes from was a Roman
priest during the 3rd century A.D. under
Emperor Claudius II.
The Roman Empire was experiencing massive
turmoil at the time. Dubbed the 'Crisis of the
Third Century' by scholars, this period saw the
empire divide into three competing states, with
the threat of invasion all around.
Claudius made the unpopular decision to ban
marriage among young people, believing that
unmarried soldiers fought better than married
soldiers. With the Roman Empire hanging by a
thread, Claudius needed all the brazen war power
he could get.
This is where Valentine comes in; the pesky priest
who believed marriage to be a God-given
sacrament. Valentine began officiating marriages
in secret but was eventually found out and
imprisoned. Author Greg Tobin noted that the
advent of the Valentine's Day love note may have
come about from young children passing Valentine
notes through the prison bars, but this may be
embellishment to an otherwise tragic story.
Tobin describes Valentine's fate:
The priest was eventually beheaded and then
named a martyr by the Church because he
gave up his life to perform the sacrament
of marriage: for love of love and love of
God.
At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I
declared February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day,
and centuries later romantic authors like
Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare helped seal
the deal with references to the day in their
works.
Happy Valentine !
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